We have a small number of Euros from the Republic of Ireland that we would like to take with us to Italy. How easy is it to use them in Italy? What is the general situation for using Euros in countries other than the issuing one?
I ask because there are known issues with the pound sterling. We have been told that it might be difficult to use pounds from Northern Ireland or Gibraltar in England.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give us.
Dave Fritz
Euro are completely interchangeable.
Dig through your pockets after a few days in Italy and see what you find.
Some people try to collect coins form all the Euro countries. In most countries you get a mix of countries in your change. They are all identical size etc. and have identical front sides, you have to look on the back to see which country it is from. Some people have even done studies on the "migration" of coins from one country to another.
This is the official ECB website which shows what is on the back of each counries €1 coins.
And just in case there was any question about Euro currency, there's only one design for the bills, and there's no distinction from one country to another.
@Cyn.
That is not strictly speaking true. You can tell which country Euro notes (or bills as you call them) come from by the first letter of the serial number:
Z Belgium
Y Greece
X Germany
V Spain
U France
T Ireland
S Italy
R Luxembourg
P Netherlands
N Austria
M Portugal
L Finland
H Slovenia
G Cyprus
F Malta
E Slovakia
D Estonia
The coins are more obvious, because they have a different design on the back.
Fritz, I suggest you look at the coins you have from Ireland, I but they aren't all irish!
What's a euro? What happened to the lira, and how do I spend my drawer full of those?
Take them to Turkey?
Any Euro can be used in the entire Eurozone
"What's a euro? What happened to the lira, and how do I spend my drawer full of those?"
Larry, if it's a true drawer full, maybe on a birra?
Dave, spending Euro - coins or notes - is similar to using coins and dollars across state lines in the USA. The different nationalities are all mixed up, all over. You'll have no problem!
"How easy is it to use them in Italy?" From my experience, extremely easy ;-)
Thanks, everyone.
Yeah, it seems we spent our Irish Euro notes in Spain and Portugal. The notes I have are from both those countries. And the coins do seem to be from all over. I knew they weren't a problem, but I wasn't sure about the notes.
Dave
Old liras can no more be changed from December 2011.
Yes some countries demonetised their former currency after a set period. For some others eg Ireland it can be exchanged indefinitely.
The initial serial letter on the new series of notes being progressively introduced does not indicate the country but explicitly the printer. For example J and H notes are produced in England by De La Rue for 4 different national central banks.
